Jade Mouse

Chapter 24

“Well, that looks like everything,” I said, pushing my chair back so I could rest my feet on my study desk, hands held behind my head in what I figured was a very self-satisfied-looking pose. “I got my book back, Theo got his sword, all the other stolen items were accounted for and returned, the mystery of the 'wraith' has all been sorted out, Blackstaag has been dealt with . . . rather humiliatingly.” I took an unlit cigar and propped it between my teeth. “Looks like it's all done. Finished.”

“Milord,” said Cyrus, a trace of a smile on his face, “there is still the matter of Greybridge Keep.”

“Yerg!” I gurgled forlornly, my hands clutching my forehead in mock despair.

“I'm sure it can wait, Milord - with everything else we've handled today, we should probably take a bit of a breather.” He grinned at me. “I only mentioned it to annoy you.”

“Well, as luck would have it, I actually have an answer for you today, Knight-Captain,” I said, sounding rather smug.

Cyrus looked genuinely surprised for a moment, and then he nodded slowly. “Shall I begin making arrangements, start moving a few things over there, Milord?”

“Yes. We've got a few days to get ready, obviously. Like you said . . . we could use a breather, both of us. It'll be nice being able to get a full night's sleep around here, not being woken up by the sound of ringing bells or screeching rugs.”

“That's for sure. Probably for the best if you took a full week off before we started the bulk of the move. I'm assuming you'll want the vault there turned into a study, like you have here?”

“No, Cyrus. I'll be staying here.”

He blinked. After a few seconds of sitting there, looking smug, I decided to help with my Knight-Captain's confusion.

“Greybridge Keep is a marvelous place. And huge. It was built to house the number of people I now find myself employing. Logic says I should move there . . . you yourself didn't even have to ask what I'd decided just now. You simply assumed that I was going to bow to the inevitable, make the decision that makes the most sense. Well,” I scratched my chin, raising my eyebrows a bit, “I have a sneaking suspicion that Tenarreau expects the same thing.”

“Uhm, okay,” said Cyrus, his tone dubious.

“We don't have any real idea what Tenarreau has planned for six months from now. He may give me the information I seek about my family, stripping me of all my newest territory in exchange. He may attempt to hang on to the information and saddle me with even more territory, or some new task. Claiming a new keep, one that's more centralized and closer to the thick of things, sends a message that I'm moving forward, accepting things . . . that perhaps I anticipate keeping this new territory. Maybe he threatens to take it away. Maybe it gives Tenarreau a firmer grip on me, or steers me towards embracing some other things he's got planned for me. I don't want him thinking that.

“I want him thinking of me as a clever, unpredictable Lord who has been dutifully doing what he's been told, one who is sitting back and patiently waiting for his sovereign to make a move. I want him to think of me as a guy who could accept losing most of his territory with a smile and a nod of the head, but who expects to be given something in return. I want to be ready to act, ready to move at full speed in one direction or another in six months time. I cannot do that if my attention is split, and if my time is occupied by things like having to settle into a new keep. Or,” I gave him a significant look, “if I get too bogged down with the business side of things. Which is why you'll be going there.”

There was a very, very long stretch of silence. My Captain's eyes practically fell out of his head.

“It . . . you mean, you-”